UK Counter-Terrorism (merged thread)

[AdamG]

Christmas bomb plot: nine men remanded over plan to 'blow up Big Ben and Westminster Abbey'
Nine alleged terrorists plotted a Christmas bombing campaign targeting sites that included the London Stock Exchange and Big Ben, a court heard.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ter-Abbey.html

[davidbfpo]

Omarali50,

You asked:

Why the surprise about Bangladeshis? Bangladesh has been an important hub of ISI's jihadist project for decades...

IMHO the surprise is that those of Bangladeshi origin have not featured in most UK plots for a few years, other groups dominate, notably Kashmiri / Pakistani and coming up Somalis. IIRC the last UK CT case with a Bangladeshi was Moinul Abedin and he was arrested in 2000. Secondly, there was the assumption that contemporary history would preclude any Bangladeshi going to Pakistan for training.

There has also been Bangladesh-UK co-operation in CT, although it has hiccups:http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/j...ims-bangladesh

[AdamG]

For people too cheap to buy from Paladin Press

LONDON - Nine men arrested in Britain on terrorism charges last week found inspiration and bomb-making instructions in an English-language Internet magazine published by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, British investigators reportedly said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews

[davidbfpo]

A few weeks police in Birmingham arrested eight people, who were later charged with terrorism offences and seven men kept in custody:

Four of the men were charged with preparing for an act of terrorism in the UK, and two with failing to disclose information.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15113378

This week four young men were arrested, in part two of the investigation, now known as Operation Pitsford and they too have been charged:

They are accused of collecting money for terrorism, travelling to Pakistan for terrorism training and travelling abroad to commit acts of terrorism. They have been charged with engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts contrary to section 5(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006, a force spokesman said.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15798572

While this may have only local, British implications I do wonder if it will have an impact on the decision to base the US Olympic track team in Birmingham. There was speculation a week ago that the USA had some concerns overs security in London:http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011...-security-2012

[davidbfpo]

Three threads merged and thread renamed UK Counter-Terrorism (merged thread).

[davidbfpo]

The annual report by the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation has been published and covered here, for example:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...-watchdog.html

Bee stings kill as many people in Britain as terrorist attacks do, according to a report by a Government watchdog who claims the risk from extremists has fallen “markedly” in recent years.

In view of a press report on a speech by the Director-General of the Security Service (MI5) on the threat, the reviewer said the threat is sometimes:

exaggerated for political or commercial purposes

Link to cited a report on the MI5 speech:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...spy-chief.html

As the UK winds up for the Olympics in a month's time his remarks are noteworthy and I suspect not exactly endearing him to HMG. When taken alongside his earlier testimony to a parliamentary committee on HMG's proposal for closed courts in civil cases he is showing some mettle IMHO:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...e-strikes.html

[davidbfpo]

A lengthy excerpt from a book due out in April 2013, which gives a good background to some of the factors behind Jihadist terrorism in the UK - with a focus on the impact of Kashmir and the appeal to those with an affinity or kith & kin links in the UK - by looking at one radicaliser Maulana Masood Azhar.

It starts with:

Kashmir has always played an interesting role in Britain’s jihad. From its earliest days, the presence in the UK of a substantial Kashmiri population meant issues in the Indian sub-continent were important in the UK as well. Most prominently, in 1984, a group of Kashmiris abducted and murdered Rhavindra Mhatre, a diplomat serving at the Indian Consulate in Birmingham. Their demands included the release of imprisoned Kashmiri leader Maqbool Butt, who was instead executed by the Indian government in retribution. In later years, as tensions slowly escalated, a growing number of young Britons were drawn to the fight, following the streams of money that had long filtered from the UK to Kashmiri jihadi groups. In time, this well-trodden path became a direct line to al Qaeda, culminating in the attacks of 7 July 2005.

Link:http://www.hurstpublishers.com/maula...mber_207971092

The book is 'We Love Death As You Love Life: Britain's Suburban Mujahedeen' by Raffaello Pantucci, see flyer:http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/...you-love-life/

[davidbfpo]

A newspaper story based on a forthcoming BBC Radio programme and a rare interview of Jonathan Evans, the Director of the Security Service (MI5):

One of the things I say always to new members of the Service is that there may be a temptation to cut those corners but in the longer term that will be a real problem to us....We depend on the support of government and ultimately on the support of the British people to do the sort of things that we do. They have a right to be confident that we will be doing this in a way which is legal, which is proportionate and which is done in accordance with high ethical standards.

In the two-part series, In Defence of Bureaucracy, Mr Evans insists that bureaucracy helps MI5 officers to do their jobs:

It means that officers can act with confidence that what they are doing is appropriate and proportionate and that there are those checks and balances in the system.

Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...-MI5-boss.html